Milwaukee Police discipline two officers who had violently battered and tased NBA Rookie Sterling Brown — who’s father is a retired Illinois Police Officer — for a parking violation with two handicapped spaces in an empty Walgreen’s lot claiming that he was “acting like a Dick”.
“If the guy hadn’t been such a dick it would’ve been — ‘Hey, have a nice day,’ you know?” one officer says after the arrest. “But then I thought, ‘He’s being an ass. He’s trying to hide something.'”
But the body cam footage shows that the cop was being a dick within seconds of the encounter, Brown was clearly annoyed, but he perfectly reasonable and cooperative. [Pay close attention to the first 40-50 seconds of the video because where each of them is positioned and where they move to is the core of the dispute that rages for a good 30 minutes between them).
Brown comes out of the Walgreens, his car is parked sideways across two handicapped slots in a lot that is essentially empty. His lights are still on and possibly his key is still in the ignition [or more likely he has a keyless remote]. From the very first second, the officer is belligerent — and Sterling is skeptical of his actions and motives, asking him multiple times to explain what’s going on — but not getting anything like a direct answer.
Officer: How ya doing, you got a driver’s license?
Brown: [Brown hands him something which may be a temporary ID or License]
Officer: What’s that? Where’s your drivers license?
Brown: What’s the deal?
Officer: Back up. [Brown takes a half step back] You don’t see the issue here? [Touches Him] Hold on.
Brown: Don’t touch me.
Officer: You don’t see the issue here. [No longer a question.] You’re not parked across three lanes?
Brown: {Unintelligible]
Officer: [To radio} 23-90. Can I get another squad here. [To Brown] Back up. Back up. [This takes place about 30 seconds into their encounter!]
Brown: For what?
Officer: Are you instructing me? I just told you to back up. [Brown takes a half step back with his hands up in a surrender position] I just told you to back up.
Brown: I just did.
Officer: Everything you do is on the camera, ok? [Grabs it an shows it to him]
Brown: You touched me first so..
Officer: That’s right, I told you to back up.
Brown: But don’t touch me.
Officer: [Overtalking him] Because you’re gonna try to get in the car.[Which is probably where the license he asked for is] I’ll do what I want all right?
Brown: No you won’t.
Officer: I own this right here.
Brown: But you don’t own me though.
Officer: So what’s your name? I didn’t say I own you, I own this. [Indicates the car or the camera — I’m not sure.]
Brown: Don’t touch me, you don’t own me.
Officer: What’s you name?
Brown: It’s on there, [on whatever he game him]. Sterling Brown.
Officer: [Over talking his answer] I’m asking you.
Brown: I’m telling you, Sterling Brown.
Officer: These are simple questions man.
Brown: No, I’m telling you — Sterling Brown.
Officer: [Overtalking his answer again] These are simple questions, and you’re being — and you’re being all bad ass to me, all right? I asked you a question so I can verify this, ok? [Holds up what he gave him] You don’t think I see all these are [indicates something near the car] whatever? Are Fake?
Brown: I don’t realize….
Officer: [Cutting him off again] I don’t know who you are. So that’s why I asked.
Brown: Ok.
Officer: I asked for an ID. Legitimate questions, right?
Brown: I got no problem with them.
Officer: You’re looking at me like I got something growing out of my head.
Brown: I’m just saying you touched me, that’s the issue. [Yes, Technically it’s assault!]
Officer: Right, cuz you got up in my face, ok? [He was blocking the car door when Brown walked up.]
Brown: [Incredulous] I got up in yo face? Really? C’mon bro.
Officer: I asked you to back up and you did not do it. [Actually he didn’t ask, and he did do it — a little.] I asked you to back up and you did not do it [Yes, he repeated himself.] You backed up about 3 inches. [Oh, so then he did do it. You didn’t say how far he should go back man.] Everything I’m doing is on camera dude. [Sure is.] Alright?
Brown: I don’t care. [about the camera].
Officer: So you want to explain this to me? [Indicates the car.] Parked across two..two.. you have an entire empty parking lot, and you’re parked across two… going to the Walgreens.
Brown: In and out.
Officer: At what time?
Brown: In and out.
Officer: Well long enough time that I sat here for about a minute [which was about 30 seconds at the beginning of the video]… came out.
Brown: I was in and out. I pulled up, parked right here - I was in and out. That’s it. [Ok, that’s your confession, give him a ticket and go — Right? Nope. ]
Brown: What are we doing, what’s the situation?
Officer: Oh, we’re gonna wait.
Brown: For what?
Officer: I’m waiting for my partner.
Brown: I understand that, but…
Officer: You got time to park across the lines, so…
Brown: So?
Officer: So we’re gonna wait a little longer.
Brown: For what?
Officer: We’re just going to figure it out man.
Brown: So what are we figuring out though?
Officer: We’re gonna figure out what we’re gonna do. Whether we’re gonna give you a ticket or whatever. [That’s bullshit, he decided to arrest him as soon as he called for backup. That’s WHY he called for backup as soon as he saw a black man with a nice car. He knows damn well what “Whatever” is.]
Brown: You can’t do that by yourself? [Which would be a very astute point.]
A Second police car arrives at the 3 min mark, 1st officer walks over to it — totally abandoning his “blocking” position keeping Brown from “getting in the car.” Which he doesn’t do. Then a third car arrives.
2nd Officer: [Unintelligible]
1st Officer: I’m trying to get on the horn to cancel, I just wanted one, alright?
Fourth Car arrives.
1st Officer: [Talking to 4th Officer] All I wanted was one extra.
4th Officer Laughs.
1st Officer: This guy got all up in my face. I was just trying to get him to back up, and he got in my face. [He repeats this to 3rd Officer as he chats with them as Car #5 drives up] All I wanted was one, you guys weren’t very busy were you? [Apparently not! They continue chatting about the computer sending so many] Alright, have a nice night. [He goes back over to Sterling who is now talking to two officers, The car alarm goes off for a few seconds until he uses his remote to turn it off. There are now at least 4 officers present.]
Brown: And I just asked what’s the problem?
2nd Officer: [Unintelligible]
Brown: What do you mean “what do you mean”? — I said what I mean.
2nd Officer: [Unintelligible]
Brown: Why? Can I ask you why?
2nd Officer: [Unintelligible]
Brown: For what? I’m just asking you a question.
2nd Officer: [Unintelligible — my guess here is that Sterling is being told he’s under arrest and he’s trying to figure why the frack that’s the case?]
While talking to Brown the 2nd Officers reaches out and touches the car, setting off the alarm again. Brown disables it again, while another female person — who may have been in the car — begins talking to a 5th officer near the trunk, the 1st Officer moves to join them, which makes the conversation with Brown indistinct. 4 Officers remain around Brown surrounding him — that’s a least 6 Officers for a parking violation. The headlights are now off. 7 Mins have elapsed.
1st Officer [to female]: You really don’t want to get yourself involved in this. Please, you really don’t need this, ok? [Is that like a threat or a warning?] You’re get involved in something… [He walks to the passenger side of the car, then back — where Brown is still talking to officers]
At 8:11 another Officer starts Shouting: Take your hands out of your pockets now.
Brown: I’ve got stuff in my hands.
2nd Officer starts grabbing at Brown, others begin to grapple with him. He goes down with at least 5 officers on him.
Another Officer Shouts: TASER TASER TASER.
Brown Groans.
At 9:21 the sound of hand-cuffs can be heard, Brown remains on the ground as the Officers each rise.
At 10:10 Officers begin to search the car, until 13:30 the 1st Officer is filling out paper work while the other officer talk to Brown but the conversation can’t really be heard.
Brown speaking to Officers: You harassed me for no reason. All y’all. He [indicating the 1st Officer] pushed me for no reason.
1st Officer at 13:10 : I asked him to step back and he wouldn’t do it. [Which is a lie!]
Brown: [Unintelligible]
1st Officer: It’s all on camera, Sir — just like I explained to you. [Ok, now that the guy is on the ground handcuffed — he’s got manners?]
Brown: You’re right — we got you all on camera. [He got that one, right]
1st Officer: Yep.
Brown: All you muthafuckas [I think that’s what he says] are on camera. [Unintelligible]
1st Officer: [Let’s out an exasperated groan] .
Brown: All of this is on you, you initiated this.
1st Officer: Nope. Where’s your normal license? Your regular license?
Brown: [Unintellible]
The 1st Officer then hands his paperwork off to some of the other officers whom during this entire situation he hardly even talks to other than to say “He wouldn’t back up.”
1st Officer to other cops at 14:22 : I don’t know why he’s getting pissed. [Oh really, you seriously don’t know?] He was alright. I don’t know why [he’s so angry].
Other Officer: [Unintellible]
1st Officer: No no, it wasn’t even.. I rolled up and…
2nd Officer: You were trying to look in the car.
1st Officer: Yeah yeah. I didn’t really get a chance to look.
2nd Officer: So you asked if there was a reason [for parking his car that way…? No he actually didn’t ask Sterling.]
1st Officer: Initially I rolled up, I was gonna take a piss and I see this car parked right there. He’s gone, I said “Is there a reason for this, and emergency and whatnot?” [He had asked the girl in the car before Sterling came back.] That’s what I’m thinking maybe he had a medical emergency or something? I asked her “where is he?” He comes out starts getting in my face, and I said “hey, back up” and he wouldn’t do it. Same thing as before. [What exactly does that mean? Before when?] And then I called for somebody else.
2nd Officer: And then he was bitching.
1st Officer: I don’t know why, when I went for a system check [unintellible] I’m gonna check on my computer. [He walks over to his van and types in an address] How the fuck...”? [He walks back over to Officer #2] I just typed in an address on a business check, and jumped out to go take a piss man. If the guy hadn’t been such a Dick it would’ve been “Hey, have a nice day.” But then I though “Hey, he’s being an ass — he’s trying to hide something.” Now he’s like “Hey, I’m a ball player blah blah blah”. So what. [Chuckles]
Yes, he is a ball player and no, he wasn’t hiding anything — you prick.
1st Officer: You ran warrants on him,
2nd Officer: Yeah.
1st Officer: Does he have anything or no?
2nd Officer: Nope. [As he’s walking away to apparently talk to the female passenger]
1st Officer: Ok. [Yeah, but he doesn’t believe it] No warrants, no nothing?
3rd Officer: Nope.
He has no wants or warrants and he wasn’t hiding anything — he just, correctly, thought you were a shady asshole.
As a result he’s arrested and tased because he didn't back up enough? Seriously, man. At no point was Sterling threatening. He didn’t even raise his voice, in fact I would argue part of the reason he tended to stay close was so they he could be heard because his voice is really soft.
Eventually they stand Sterling up at 23:56 where he’s asking questions and the 1st Cop is still being a DICK to him. This is where we basically enter the “Lording it over you” phase of the evenings entertainment. Cops love this shit, I’ve seen it many times.
Brown :Hey how far is it? How soon?
1st Officer: We got all night long man. We got all night.
Brown: How come all these [other officers] showed up?
1st Officer: You already know. I don’t have all the answers.
Brown: You initiated everything that happened here.
1st Officer: No, you initiated everything.
Brown. You initiated everything.
1st Officer: You initiated everything.
Brown: You touched me.
1st Officer, Yeah, I did. [That’s a confession to assault!]
Brown: You shouldn’t have touched me.
[They talk further]
Brown: I know.
1st Officer: Bucks player? Sorry I don’t follow the Bucks. So I didn’t recognize you. [Sarcastically] I didn’t recognize your “famous name.” [Bet you know it NOW don’t cha?]
Brown: It ain’t famous, it just exists. And not just with the NBA.
1st Officer: Oh, something else, other than the Bucks, what else are you famous for?
Brown: [I think he’s saying “Under armour” but I’m not sure.] Look me up. [They go around and around on this about 4 times.]
1st Officer: Where else is he known at? [Geez, how many different ways does he have to be famous for this fucking guy?] I don’t know anything about you. [You really shouldn’t have to in order to not be a dickhead to him.] I don’t want your record, all I want to know is you parked like this, so I wanted to talk to you about it.
Brown: That’s fine. You want to talk, you don’t have to touch.
1st Officer: I asked you to move back, you didn’t move back [You didn’t “ask” and you demanded and touched him at the same time!]
Brown: But you didn’t have to touch, you initiated the touching.
1st Officer: Apparently I did because you were right in my grill.
Brown: Nah. I saw you touching my car and you walked up on me. [He’s right there, the cop moved up to him.]
1st Officer: I got it all on my camera. I was standing by your car, you walked up on me. [Uh, of course, it’s his freaking car — man!]
Brown: No, you were not initially standing by my car. [He was walking back and forth, he wasn’t stationary. ]
Actually Brown should know this well because exactly where someone is standing just before they come into contact is a big issue in Basketball, it delineates whether someone is within the “restricted zone” inside the paint where a foul called if someone touches you, they kinda get drilled on that issue.
The area is officially known as the "restricted area" (RA) in the NBA, the "restricted area arc" in the NCAA and the "no-charge semicircles" in FIBA. Its purpose is to stop secondary defenders from taking a position under the basket in an attempt to draw the offensive foul when a player is driving to the basket.
The car door was his basket, and this guy was blocking him right inside the restricted zone — which would normally call for a blocking foul, rather than a charge foul. The difference is really important in the NBA and anybody — even a Rookie — would be paying attention to the distances when someone is trying to physically intercept them. Sterling was basically calling a defensive foul on the cop inside the restricted zone.
Or you could also think about it from the perspective someone trying to pull a moving screen to block out the defender opposing the ball handler, while claiming that they are stationary.
A screen is a blocking move by an offensive player, by standing beside or behind a defender, to free a teammate to shoot, receive a pass, or drive in to score. In basketball and field lacrosse, it is also known as a pick.
Either way the cop is trying to be the opposing player and the REF at the same time.
1st Officer: Yes, I was. [No, you weren’t] I was parked right by your door. [He was standing next to the trunk and left rear panel then walked over from the edge of the back bumper to between Brown and the driver-side door as he came out of Walgreens — it’s in the first 45 seconds of the tape. HE”S FUCKING LYING]
Brown: [Incredulous, eyes wide!] You were parked by my door?
1st Officer: Right here, by your door.
Brown: Naw, man.
1st Officer: You know exactly man. Don’t make it all...[unintelligible]
Brown: You gonna say that in front of everybody…
1st Officer: It’s all on camera. this is still recording, everything I’m saying. Where else are you known at?
Brown: Look me up. Look me up.
1st Officer: I don’t know how to do that. [Seriously man? Fucking GOOGLE, dude.] So why don’t you tell me?
Brown: You’re smart.
1st Officer: You been to Mars? You been to Venus? You been to the Moon? Why’re you — in school, what?
Brown: Look me up.
1st Officer: Where you going to school at Illinois? [That’s interesting that he asked him about Illinois, because he IS from Illinois — which suggest that’s what’s on his ID. In fact, Brown’s dad is an ex-cop from illiinois. After Venus and Mars wisecracks Brown doesn’t answer him I guess because this shit is just too ridiculous. Then the cop walks away, but he’s still talking — apparently to himself] He wants me to look him up. I don’t know where to look you up at.
This is pathetic, this is a supposed law enforcement officer — someone who supposed to investigate shit — but he can’t figure out how to look out a guy who was in the second round of the NBA draft? And then he talks shit to him about being from Mars, Venus and the Moon? FUCK!
I mean, You could try starting with Wikipedia first, Shit head.
So then he walks back over this his van where it seems he might actually try to look him up, just like Brown told him to do about 20 times. Or maybe not, because he tells dispatch to change his location to Walgreens and walks back again, but they don’t talk anymore.
All that and he never got an answer to his first question — Why Are You PARKED like this?
This cop sucks, he really sucks.
I know this. I’ve known cops exactly like this where you’re honestly telling them the truth and the facts and their giving you shit over it. Arrogant Ignorant assholes. They’ve got more than a few of those bad apples, because it should be noted in this final section where he berating Sterling for “being from Mars” while he’s handcuffed and fuming — and man, he’s giving that cop the worse FUCK YOU look on earth the entire time — yet every other cop is standing there listening to the whole exchange and they don’t say shit.
That whole bunch is bad.
If this hadn’t been a kid with a high profile due to the NBA this wouldn’t be a story, but then again — Sterling could have been seriously injured and even killed because there have been over 1000 death by taser caused by Police since 2000 according to PBS.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 1,000 people in the U.S. have died after police stunned them with Tasers, and the stun gun was ruled to be a cause or contributing factor in 153 of those deaths, a Reuters examination found.
In the most thorough accounting to date of fatal police encounters involving the paralyzing stun guns, Reuters found that nine in 10 of those who died were unarmed and one in four suffered from mental illness or neurological disorders. Taser International Inc, the stun gun’s manufacturer, said its weapons are almost never to blame when someone dies after being stunned. Taser this year changed its name to Axon Enterprise Inc (AAXN.O).
IMO in honesty the 1st officer was within his rights to arrest him for not obeying a lawful order given by a peace officer — but not for laying hands on him without probable cause because that’s assault. Other than that all Sterling did was stand his ground on the facts and ask questions, he may have been close to the officer but he wasn’t threatening — except maybe in his own feeble mind. This could have easily escalated into something horrible, because even without use of a choke hold or a gun — people die from this. It’s no joke.
A police instructor who analyzed the video pretty much agrees — the cops initiated this.
Saturday, May 26, 2018 · 12:02:38 AM +00:00 · Frank Vyan Walton
Officers involved in this case have been disciplined.
Milwaukee Police Department has issued a two-day suspension for the officer whose actions first escalated the incident involving Milwaukee Bucks rookie Sterling Brown outside a Walgreens this past January, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel." With a startling lack of self-awareness, the Milwaukee Police Department has issued a two-day suspension for the officer whose actions first escalated the incident involving Milwaukee Bucks rookie Sterling Brown outside a Walgreens this past January, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The department also suspended a pair of supervisors who arrived on the scene for 10 and 15 days, and more officers received warnings, the report said. Milwaukee police did not name any of the officers in question, but the Journal Sentinel identified the officer first on scene as Joseph Grams.
...
Video released by the department on Wednesday showed Grams approaching Brown outside his vehicle, which was parked across multiple handicapped spaces in an empty drug-store parking lot at 2 a.m. on Jan. 26. The officer called for backup, harassed Brown and accused him of “getting up in” his face, which did not happen on camera. At least half a dozen more officers arrived on scene, where Brown was ultimately tackled and tased by multiple officers despite no visual signs of resistance.
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A prepared statement for a press conference conducted prior to the video’s release. He did not take questions." Milwaukee police chief Alfonso Morales apologized on behalf of the department in a prepared statement for a press conference conducted prior to the video’s release. He did not take questions.
“During the encounter, Mr. Brown was decentralized, tased and arrested,” he said. “The department conducted an investigation into the incident which revealed members acted inappropriately, and those members were recently disciplined. Criminal charges against Mr. Brown were not pursued.”
We now know the brevity of that discipline. Police captain Steven Caballero told reporters that the department will release the officers’ identities “once all statutory requirements have been met.”